Artifacts/Warehouse 14/Ernest Shackleton's Tin of Sardines
Sardines from Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The crew was trapped in the ice for 2 years, but had the sense not to eat the sardines. The sardines had gone bad "very bad". Effect(s) unknown, but Artie warned Lena not to open the tin. Ernest Shackelton was captain of the, appropriatly named, Endurance which was part of his famous Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition in which he was determined to reach the South Pole and be the first person to cross Anartica coast to coast, via the South Pole. He was going to start at the southern most part of South America and finsh at the southern most part of New Zealand. In a help wanted sign he made it read: MEN WANTED: FOR HAZORDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOUR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS. Somehow Ernest was able to put a crew together. The ship left for the South Pole on December 5, 1914. Sadly, when the ship was only one day from its destination it got stuck in the ice. The ice proved to be too thick and solid to break through and all the ship and crew could do was drift with the ice. The crew soon came to the conclusion that they'd be stuck there until the ice thaws in the spring. The only fresh meat the crew had to eat were seals and penguins. After 281 days of being trapped in the ice the crew came to the inescapable conclusion that the ice had crushed the ship beyond any hope of repair. They abandoned the ship, walked across the ice, and began to search for land. Before abandoning the ship the crew saved as many supplies as they could. The 28 men of the expedition were now isolated on the drifting pack ice hundreds of miles from land, with no ship, no means of communication with the outside world and with limited supplies. What was worse was that the ice itself was now starting to break up as the Antarctic spring got under way. Ernest never gave up hope, that was the only reason his men didn't give up. They made landfall on Elephant Island, 5 months after they abandoned the Endurance and 497 days since they last set foot on solid ground. Sadly, they weren't out of the woods yet. They had no way of calling for help and no ships pass by Elephant Island. The nearest whaling station was 800 miles away across the most inhabital place on the planet. Shackleton and a few of his men decided to go for help while the rest would endure on Elephant Island. It took Ernest 16 days to reach South Georgia Island, but they were still 22 miles away from the whaling station. 2 of Shackletons men were too weak to make the journey and decided to stay behind. They crossed glaciers, icy slopes and snow fields to reach their destination. After reaching their destination they first put some dry clothes on and got some rest. First thing they did was retrieve the sailors that were wailting for them on the South Georgia coast and then headed for Elephant Island. In 1917, after 4 attempts to reach the island, the remaining crew of the Endurance had been rescued surrviving 105 days on the island. Shackelton died at the age of 47 and was burried on South Georgia Island, today his grave is a popular tourist attraction. Supposedly the only items that surrvived the journey were Shackletons logbook, adze and cooker. Category:Effects Unknown Category:Artifacts